Finishing every workout doesn’t tell you whether the training is making you better.

Coach and Troll Training co-founder John Wessling shares how he explained away the warning signs during a year of overtraining, and why being motivated can make it difficult to recognize when more work isn’t helping.

We explore the difference between doing training and absorbing it, the challenge of eating enough for long endurance days, and finding a workload that still leaves you able to enjoy the rest of your life. John also shares his Leadville mountain-bike preparation, his preference for racing rather than simply surviving an event, and why one bad wearable score doesn’t get to decide how a race will go.

It’s a conversation about getting better at the things we enjoy, without assuming the next step always needs to be more hours or a longer race.

Links

• John Wessling / Troll Training: https://www.instagram.com/jrwessling/
• Deepish Conversations on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz35DCAJXu0CKvb08y2uvcNKSahc5A3eJ
• Brian - Substack: https://brianpierce.substack.com/
• Brian - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodybepierced

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.

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Choosing your next fitness challenge starts with knowing what you want from it: a better result, a shared experience, or confidence in what you can do.

Greg Hammond of Concept2 joins me to explore why we test ourselves, what different fitness events offer, and how to balance performance with staying active for the long run. CrossFit, HYROX, and the Tactical Games give us the setting, but the questions apply whether you compete or simply enjoy training.

In this conversation

• How CrossFit made fitness measurable across different movements and durations
• Why everyday athletes seek out fitness competitions
• What HYROX and the Tactical Games offer participants
• Community, shared challenges, and discovering what you can do
• The difference between training for health and elite performance
• Balancing strength, endurance, and changing goals as you get older

Links

• Greg Hammond / Concept2: https://www.instagram.com/concept2greg/
• Deepish Conversations on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz35DCAJXu0CKvb08y2uvcNKSahc5A3eJ
• Brian - Substack: https://brianpierce.substack.com/
• Brian - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodybepierced

In this episode of Deepish Conversations, Brian Pierce sits down with Kelsey Martins to talk about growing up on antidepressants, navigating withdrawal, and finding yourself beyond the labels that have become part of your identity.

Kelsey started Zoloft at 12 and now shares her experience through Unmedicating Me, where she offers coaching and peer support. She describes both the help she experienced on medication and the difficulties she encountered when she wanted to come off.

Our conversation centers on a question that reaches beyond medication: when something has explained how you feel for years, how do you make room for a different understanding of yourself?

In this conversation:

• Growing up with anxiety and starting medication
• Kelsey’s difficult first discontinuation experience
• Separating what you feel from who you are
• Acceptance, rest, and the pressure to fix everything
• Getting to know yourself before the process is finished

Both of us share from experiences that are still unfolding. This is not a tapering guide or a claim that coming off medication is the right choice for everyone.

Links

Kelsey / Unmedicating Me: https://www.instagram.com/unmedicating_me/
Deepish Conversations on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz35DCAJXu0CKvb08y2uvcNKSahc5A3eJ
Brian on Substack: https://brianpierce.substack.com/
Brian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodybepierced

This is a personal conversation, not medical advice. Discuss medication changes with a qualified prescribing clinician.

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.

Support the show

The conversation surrounding the Cornell Seven case made me think about myself as a young college man, the guidance I wish I’d had, and what I need to keep discussing with my teenage son.

For episode #005 of Deepish Conversations, Pat Barber from The Fathers Guild joins me again to talk about responsibility, relationships, sex, and respecting women. We’re not here to decide what happened in the case or speculate about the legal outcome. We’re asking what we can do as fathers.

I share how pornography shaped some of my expectations and why these conversations have felt uncomfortable. Pat brings it back to understanding power, using it to lift people up rather than hold them down, and living the values we want our sons to learn.

We also discuss peer pressure, speaking up, getting help, and keeping communication open. My hope is that fathers leave with something they can take into conversations with their own sons, even when it feels awkward.

If this could help a father or friend in your life, please share it with them.

Links & Resources

Learn more about Pat
Deepish Conversations on YouTube
Brian on Substack
Brian on Instagram

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.

Support the show

In this episode of Deepish Conversations, Brian Pierce sits down with Denise Hatch to talk about pressure, focus, confidence, and the practices that help us perform when it matters.

Denise is a mindset coach who works with athletes in motocross, off-road racing, and other high-performance environments. But this conversation is not only for athletes. It is for anyone who has felt capable of more, then watched nerves, self-doubt, overthinking, or old habits get in the way.

The conversation begins with a question about why we often train the body but give less attention to how we respond when pressure rises. From there, Brian and Denise discuss breath, visualization, focus, confidence, and the repetitive thoughts that can either help us perform or hold us back.

They talk about turning nerves into readiness, building a process you can trust, and learning from a bad result without letting it become a verdict on who you are. Whether you are on a start line, walking into a difficult conversation, or trying to show up for something important, this episode is about staying present when the moment gets big.

Topics covered

• Why awareness is the starting point for changing patterns and self-talk
• How breath can help bring attention back to the present moment
• Visualization, routine, and preparing for pressure before it arrives
• Turning nerves into readiness
• Building confidence without comparing yourself to everyone else
• Learning from a poor result without beating yourself up
• Why focus is a practice, not a personality trait

Links & Resources

Denise Hatch and Power of the Mind
Deepish Conversations on YouTube
Brian on Substack
Brian on Instagram

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.

Support the show

In this episode of Deepish Conversations, Brian Pierce sits down with Mack Faint to talk about redemption, solitude, self-worth, and why some of us go far to find ourselves.

Mack is an ultra-endurance bikepacker who has taken on some of the hardest self-supported rides in the world, including the Tour Divide, the Hellenic Mountain Race, the Silk Road Mountain Race, and Uinta Bikepacking. But this conversation is not only for bikepackers. It is for anyone who has used a hard thing, a race, a run, a ride, a trip, or a personal goal to get out of their own head and better understand who they are.

The conversation begins with the unglamorous realities of long-distance bikepacking, then turns into a bigger question: what are we really looking for when we push ourselves into uncomfortable places?

After pulling out of Silk Road depleted, exhausted, and discouraged, Mack went to Utah looking for redemption. He shares why he signed up for Uinta Bikepacking only days before the race, what it felt like to finish, and why he is learning that accomplishment cannot be the only thing that makes him feel justified.

Finishing a hard thing can feel like redemption, but it does not solve everything. Sometimes the bigger win is learning when to keep moving, when to stop, and how to live with yourself in the space between.

Topics covered:

• The realities of self-supported bikepacking, from resupply planning to long days alone
• Mack’s Tour Divide ride and what it taught him about negative thought loops
  The physical and emotional cost of the Hellenic Mountain Race and Silk Road Mountain Race
• Why pulling out of a race is not always quitting
• Finding redemption at Uinta Bikepacking after Silk Road
• Bikepacking as therapy, solitude, and a way to understand yourself
• The pressure to make achievement part of your identity
• Rest, recovery, and why growth does not end at the finish line

Links & Resources

• Follow Mack Faint
• Deepish Conversations on YouTube
• Brian on Substack
• Brian on Instagram

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.

What are you training for: one event, or the ability to take on different challenges? Chase Ingraham joins Brian Pierce to talk HYROX, CrossFit, and what your training prepares you to do. Drawing on his experience as a CrossFit Games athlete, coach, affiliate owner, programmer, and broadcaster, Chase explores competition and building fitness beyond a single event. Whether you race, ride, run, or simply want to stay capable, this conversation is about keeping yourself ready for the challenges you choose.

The conversation begins with a ridiculous question inspired by the recent HYROX Beijing incident, then turns into a bigger question: when do you push through, and when do you look at the situation and say, “Yeah, I’m good”?

Chase shares a story from the 2010 CrossFit Games, talks through the difference between normal athletic discomfort and the moments when stopping is the smarter call, and explains why he sees training as a baseline for doing more outside the gym.

Stopping is not automatically quitting. Sometimes it is judgment. Sometimes it protects your ability to train, compete, parent, work, and enjoy your sport for many more years.

Topics covered:

• Knowing the difference between productive discomfort and a situation that calls for reassessment
• Why pushing through is not always the same as being tough
• Chase’s 2010 CrossFit Games experience and the reality of competing through discomfort
• Training for the long game, not just one race, competition, challenge, or leaderboard result
• CrossFit, HYROX, and the value of broad, adaptable fitness
• Building enough capacity to say yes to rides, races, hikes, trips, and unexpected opportunities
• A few ridiculous stories, including the origins of Chase’s Captain America persona

Links & Resources

• Follow Chase Ingraham
• Deepish Conversations on YouTube
• Brian on Substack
• Brian on Instagram

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way.

Support the show

In this powerful episode of Deepish Conversations, host Brian Pierce sits down with Pat Barber from The Fathers Guild to discuss a struggle many parents face: managing emotions and not yelling at our kids.

The conversation goes beyond simple parenting tips, diving into the core of what it means to be an emotionally healthy parent today. We explore how our own emotional well-being impacts our families, different parenting dynamics, and the surprising power of journaling and self-reflection as tools for growth.

Pat shares the powerful insight that "yelling is for you, not for them," and explains how a "paradigm shift takes a weekend" to create real change. This episode is essential listening for any parent who wants to become more emotionally resilient and present for their family.

Topics covered:

• Managing parental emotions and triggers
• Understanding different parent-child relationship dynamics
• The role of journaling in personal growth
• Creating space for meaningful self-reflection
• Social media's impact on parenting
• Embracing mistakes and practicing grace

Links & Resources

Check out Pat Barber and The Fathers Guild: https://www.thefathersguild.com/
Brian on Substack: https://brianpierce.substack.com/
Brian on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/woodybepierced

Thanks for listening to Deepish Conversations, a podcast for people who enjoy good stories, a little humor, and learning something along the way. I'd love your comments, questions, and concerns. Do Something TODAY That Makes YOU Feel AWESOME!